
Oass-PtS 3525. 
Book T &47D3 



Ballads of Hellas 



BY 



William Hathorn Mills A. M. 



a 



SECOND EDITION 



Leosrer Street 6c Zeus Company 
bbrkbley, california 

1922 









y \ 



COPYRIGHT, 1922 
BY WILLIAM HATHORN MILLS 

First Edition 
GEORGE BELL « SONS 
LONDON, ENGLAND 






MAR -6 1922 



Z? 



^P r e fa c e 



Cublished by George Bell and Sons, 
London, England, in 1878, these ballads 
have been out of print for nearly forty 
years. I now re-publish them in the hope that 
they may again serve the purpose which they 
originally served — i. e. that, in running com- 
mentaries on the text of the original accounts 
in Herodotus and Xenophon, they may meet, 
so far as they go, the difficulty that young 
learners experience in grasping the subject- 
matter of their translation-work. The general 
idea ,of them was of course suggested by 
Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome, but, so 
far as the spirit of them is concerned, there 
is more in them of Scott than of Macaulay. 
In those far-off days I tested the ballads by 
actual use, and was quite convinced of the 
value of the principle on which they were 
written. So forth they fare again. 

W. H. M. 



Contents 



Marathon 7 

Thermopylae ------ 17 

Mantinea 33 



MARATHON 



Age shakes Athena's tower 
but spares gray Marathon. 
Byron. 



■» .nrv- K M -inni iqqqi 



MARATHON 



OOCH >OOQ< JOOOCTDOOO 



^tt^rathful is Persia's monarch, 
1 I I Wrathful tne Persian court, 
\mS For post on post is bringing 

Tidings of dire import: 
How that the sons of Athens, 

From Hellas' distant strand. 
Have sacked and burned fair Sardes, 

Pride of the Lydian land. 

ii. 
"Who are these sons of Athens?" — 

In scorn Darius cries; 
He takes his bow; the arrow 

Flies hurtling to the skies; 
"Grant me" — his prayer indignant— 

"Great Ormuzd, lord of light, 
That I may take full vengeance, 

And break proud Athens' might." 



Thrice every meal a servant, 

Such is his lord's behest, 
Bids him forget not Athens' name. 
Nor Athens' sin, and fans to name 

The fire within his breast; 
Daily his Persians urge him — 

"Arm with revenge thy hand;" 
Nor ceases traitorous Hippias, fain 
To rule bright Athens once again, 

Slandering his native land. 



Vanquished in fight at Lade, 

Ionia's galleys fly ; 
And now for many a year resounds 
Thro' Persia, to her farthest bounds, 
The yelping bark of war's fell hounds, 

Athirst for victory; 
Till, the full tale completed, 

A mighty archer-host, 
Twelve myriads strong, by Datis led 
And Artaphernes at their head, 

Start for the Hellene coast. 

v. 
Eretria soon the Persians 

By treachery foul have ta'en, 
And, by a traitor led, they reach 

Marathon's spreading plain ; 
Along the shore the galleys 

Are moored in dense array ; 
Athwart the mead, from mount to fen, 
The mighty mass of fighting men 

Await the battle-day. 

VI. 
Out from the gates of Athens, 
In this their desperate need, 



Pheidippides, the swift of foot. 
Hurries at headlong speed ; 

And to the Spartan rulers 
This message doth he bear — 

"Leave not an ancient Hellene state 
To the barbarian spear." 



"Aye, we will send an army," 

The Spartans straight reply ; 
But superstition clogs their minds, 

Or is it jealousy? 
Till the full moon has risen 

They linger, to their shame ; 
Therefore they share nor in the fight. 

Nor in the deathless fame. 



By this the Athenian hoplites 

Forth to the war are gone, 
And watch the Persian from the heights 

That look o'er Marathon. 
Ten generals lead the muster 

Of scarce nine thousand shields ; 
Each for one day supreme command 

Over the army wields. 



There is a state, to Athens 

Linked by full many a tie 
Of gratitude, for generous help, 

And generous sympathy; 
Glad are the bold Plataeans ; 

Their turn has come at length ; 
So to the aid they sally forth 

In their full fighting strength. 

x. 

A thousand strong they muster ; 
A thousand warriors true, 



What tho' in number weak, in will 

Strong, what they can, they do; 
Therefore, whene'er at Athens 

They hold a sacrifice, 
Twofold the blessings that are asked , 

Twofold the prayers that rise; 
Mingled with Athens' name, thy name, 

Plataea, seeks the skies. 



Awhile divided counsels 

The Hellene leaders sway; 
Half- wish to wait for Sparta's aid, 
Half, at the foe no whit dismayed, 

Are eager for the fray; 
The Polemarch stands doubting 

Whether to fight or wait; 
Hellas, upon that moment 

Hung all thy future fate ! 
His casting vote for battle 

Miltiades has won, 
And Hellas owes her freedom 

To Kimon's famous son. 



The die is cast, and straightway 

Each recreant doubt is gone. 
And great Miltiades stands forth 

Liberty's champion. 
To him as chief commander 

The rest allegiance swear, 
And with calm courage for the fray, 
Deferred, he wills it, till his day 

Of office, they prepare. 



Then, at the time appointed. 
The tribes in order stand ; 
Kallimachos commands the right, 

[ 101 



The left— to death or victory dight — * 

Plataea's little band; 
Thinly along the centre 

Muster the Hellene shields, 
Fronting the Sakians, and the might 
Of Persia — warriors for the fight 

Trained by a hundred fields; 
On either flank, 'gainst meaner foes, 
They mass their strength, to turn and close, 

What time the centre yields. 



And now the Athenian army 

Is for the fight arrayed, 
And the victims give good omens, 

For heaven the right doth aid; 
The little host stand silent, 

And their hearts beat full and high; 
A moment's thought — a moment's pause- 

And "forward" is the cry. 

xv. 
Then first did Hellene soldiers 

Run as they charged the foe; 
Then first did Hellene soldiers 

Lay the barbarians low ; 
For strange the Median raiment, 

Dreaded the Median name, 
And from the Median myriads 

To fly men thought no shame. 

XVI. 

Long time they fought; the Persian 
Thoro' the centre broke, 



Cp. The golden legend bore aright — 

'Who checks at me, to death is dight.' 
— Marmion I, VI. 10. 



[11] 



And drove the Hellenes struggling back, 
And dealing stroke for stroke ; 

But Athens' valour triumphs 
Victorious on the right, 

And on the left the Persian wing 
Yields to Plataea's might. 



Scorning pursuit, the victors 

Round on the centre wheel ; 
Before their onset's sweeping shock 

Persian and Sakian reel ; 
They reel, yet for a moment 

Stand, like a wolf, at bay; 
They yield — they scatter — and at length 

Hellas has won the day. 

xvni. 
In terror the barbarians 

Make for their ships again ; 
Hard on them press the Hellene spears, 

And blows fall thick as rain ; 
Now ebbing, and now flowing, 

Surges the tide of war ; 
Persian and Hellene, hand to hand. 
Now locked in deadly conflict stand, 

Now sink to rise no more. 

XIX. 

Madly the Persians battle, 

Nerved by a blind despair ; 
Madly they rush to gain their ships ; 

To flee is all they care. 
Ever and aye the Hellenes 

Charge with revengeful ire: 
Ever and aye with splendid rage 

Dash on, the ships to fire. 



12] 



Falls the arch-traitor Hippias, 

Right through the body thrust; 
Stesileos, skilled to rule the fight. 

Staggers, and bites the dust ; 
And, where the fight is fiercest, 

Battling with might and main 
Against an overwhelming host, 

Kallimachos is slain ; 
Slain in his hour of triumph, 

Lies the brave Polemarch ; 
Thick round him lie the corpses 

Of Persians, dead and stark. 



There, too, the warrior poet 

His sword resistless plies ; 
There, as he grasps a Persian ship, 
His hand lopped off — unloosed his grip, 

Stout Kynegeiros dies ; 
And many a gallant Hellene 

Is weltering in his blood, 
And many a doughty soldier 

Of Media's swarthy brood; 
But when the cowed barbarians 

Have gained at length the deep, 
Of Hellenes scarce two hundred 

Sleep on their last long sleep, 
While for six thousand dead and more 

Persia's proud dames shall weep. 



XXII. 

Round Sounion to Phaleron 

Quick sail the foe and fast, 
But, ere they make the port, they see 
Their conquerors trooping home, and flee, 

And Athens breathes at last. 



13 



So Persia's might has yielded 

To a little patriot band, 
And a loud shout of triumph 

Echoes through all the land ; 
And Sparta's warriors coming 

Too late to join the fray, 
Half-wondering, half-distrustful, gaze 
Upon the field of death, and praise 

What Athens wrought that day. 



14 



THERMOPYLAE 



Ta>v iv ®ep/u,07rvXat? Oavovrtov 
€VK\erj<; fxev a ivya, koAos 8' 6 77017x09, 
/8&>/xo5 8' 6 tcu^os, npb yoojv 8e jOL^acrrt?, 

6 8' OLKTOS eTTCUVOS, 

ivT(i(f)Lov Se rotovrov ovr' evpa)<; 

ov6* 6 iravha^iaTCDp dfxavpcoaei ^povo<;. 

SlMONIDES 



Fair was their fate, and proud their doom, 
Who met death at Thermopylae ; 

As a high altar stands their tomb, 
And paeans hymn their memory, 

Not threnes. Such shroud nor dank decay, 

Nor despot Time, shall wear away. 




& 



'reat Xerxes, lord o£ Persia, 
And many a vassal realm, 
.Purposed the land of Hellas 
In ruin to o'erwhelm; 
Leonidas, the Spartan, 

His onset fierce withstood, 
Who pledged his faith to Freedom, 
And sealed it with his blood. 

II. 
Not of himself had Xerxes 

Thought to work Hellas ill, 
But evil counsel urged him on 

Against his milder will; 
Mardonios, hot and headstrong, 

Was ever at his side 
To spur him on to thoughts of fame, 
Nor lacked there of the Hellene name 
Traitors, who, void of ruth or shame, 

Fostered his empty pride. 



These all, at feast and council, 

Gave him nor peace nor rest, 
Till they had roused the lust of power 

Within his puny breast; 
Not e'en might. Artabanos 

His lord's ambition bound ; 
In the wild clamour of the rest 

His single voice was drowned. 



Stj forth throughout wide Persia 

Due proclamation went, 
And half a hundred nations round 
Mustered their forces at the sound, 

To swell the armament; 
For four long years re-echoed 

The din of gathering war, 
Till by Kritalla's walls at last 
Met the confederate army, vast 

As never host before. 



Came Sakians, Medes, Hyrkanians, 

With Persia's native might; 
Chorasmians, Parthians, Kissians, 

Equipped them for the fight, 
Tiara-crowned, and wearing 

Long sleeves, and broidered trews; 
And eke Sagartia's horsemen grim, 
Of supple frame and sinewy limb, 

Who fling the leathern noose. 



From mountains bleak and rugged, 

Drear steppes, and broad champaigns, 
Came nomad tribes, and savage swarms, 
In motley garb, with motley arms : 



18 



Came India's wild and dusky hordes, 
Arabia's bows, Assyria's swords : 
Came Aethiopia's painted braves. 
And warriors armed with wooden staves 

From Libya's arid plains ; 
Phoenicia sent her galleys, 

Egypt her naval host ; 
Ionia manned her ships, and came. 
With tribes of every race and name, 

Dwelling on Asia's coast. 



Across Mount Athos' isthmus, 

Beneath the lash, the while. 
Dug toiling gangs a channel deep, 
Through which, two ships abreast, might sweep 

The fleet in ordered file ; 
And o'er the strait of Helle, 

Stretching from shore to shore, 
Of cables tough a bridge was wrought, 

Seven stades in length or more. 



Wintered the host at Sardes ; 

Thence, in proud Xerxes' name, 
Went heralds forth to Hellas, 

Water and earth to claim ; 
Then first thy billows, Helle, 

Brooked fetter, brand, and scourge, 
What time the tempest's stormy breath 
Had whelmed the cable-bridge beneath 

Thy "false and briny" surge. 

IX. 

His wrath appeased, the monarch 
Gave sharp and stern command, 

And with a double bridge of boats 
Anon the strait was spanned; 



19 



Then, with the spring, the army 
Bent to the north their way, 

And in Abydos' plain at length 
Drew out their proud array. 



There from a throne of marble 

Xerxes his troops surveyed; 
Far over plain and winding shore 

Glittered their long parade; 
Adown the strait his galleys 

In mimic battle swept; 
One moment, as he gazed around, 

His heart exulting leapt; 
The next — he bowed him on his throne : 
For that of all his host not one, 
When once a hundred years had run 
Their course, should see the gladsome sun : 

Then veiled his face, and wept. 



Thence after due libations 

And solemn rites, the host 
Over the two long causeways passed 
Seven days and nights, in order vast, 

On to the Thracian coast; 
Then westward to Doriskos, 

Keeping the fleet in view, 
Like land-wave surging deep and wide, 
In all their glittering pomp and pride, 

Rolled on the unwieldv crew. 



There was the army numbered ; 

Riding their ranks along, 
Might Xerxes mark with kindling eye 
A wondrous multitude, well-nigh 

Two hundred myriads strong; 

r 20 1 



Ranged in a line at anchor, 
Four plethra from the shore, 

Lay, 'mid a host of smaller craft, 
Twelve hundred ships of war. 



Still westward slow advancing 

They pressed toward their goal; 
Tribe after tribe came flocking in 

To swell the muster-roll; 
Till when at length they halted 

Beneath Olympos' mount, 
How many myriads piled their arms 

'Twere hard, I ween, to count. 

XIV. 

What need to tell of rivers 

Drained by that vast array: 
Of cities, forced but once to feed 
The mighty horde, to direst need 

Reduced for many a day? 
For far and wide the army 

Left havoc in its trail, 
And many a ravaged land to heaven 

Sent up its dismal wail. 



Through Tempe's pass defiling, 

Southward the mighty throng, 
Nation by nation, troop by troop, 

Dragged its huge length along; 
Thessalia yields submission, 

Too weak to stand alone; 
Yet, had the rest but sent their aid, 
Her warrior sons, all undismayed. 

Had stoutly held their own. 

xvi. 
What now of Hellas? Sleeps she 
In sullen apathy? 



21 



Why comes she not with banded might 
To face the foe, and dare the fight 

With all her chivalry? 
What boots this little handful — 

Seven thousand men at arms? 
How may their ranks unbroken stand, 
When swoops the Persian on the land. 

With all his countless swarms? 

XVII. 

'Tis that at home the Spartans 

The feast Karneian hold : 
That Hellas counts Olympia's wreaths 

Dearer than crowns of gold; . 
Therefore three hundred Spartans, 

With Helots and allies, 
Have sworn to stem the foe's advance, 
And tell proud Xerxes — chance what chance, 

Hellas his power defies. 



Where Oeta's craggy grandeur 

Frowns beetling o'er the sea. 
There lies, 'twixt mountain and morass, 
A mile in length, a narrow pass 

Yclept Thermopylae ; 
There to confront the Persian, 

And bar his onward way, 
The Hellene troop with courage high, 
And fixed resolve to do or die, 

Halted, and stood at bay. 



Outside the pass, and over 
Against its northern neck, 

They piled anew the ruined wall, 
The Persian rush to check ; 

High on the hill above them 
Encamped the Phokians sate, 

f ?? 1 



To guard the mountain path which led 
Round to the southern gate. 



At length by Trachis' city 

Drew up the Persian host; 
Their galleys lined the shore, or rode 

At anchor off the coast ; 
Facing the huge armada, 

In thin but firm array, 
Off Artemision's wave-swept point 

The Hellene triremes lay. 



Then from the Persian army 

Rode out a horseman, sent 
To scan the Hellenes' camp, and learn 

Their number and intent ; 
Unchecked he watched the Spartans, 

Without the pass on guard. 
Combing with care their flowing hair, 

Or wrestling on the sward. 



Back to the Persian monarch 

He bore his strange report, 
Who said — "These Spartans will not fight : 
For aye their games, their solemn rite, 

He held but idle sport ; 
Four days till they should scatter, 

Or yield, he stayed the attack, 
Then wrathful bade his warriors charge 

And bring them prisoners back. 

XXIII. 

As ocean waves all vainly 

Dash on some rock-bound coast, 



23] 



So vainly on the Hellene ranks 
Dashes the Persian host; 

Back from the rocks the billows 
Recoil in broken spray; 

Broken recoils the Persian line 
From Sparta's fierce array. 

XXIV. 

Forth, as in blind disorder 

Retires the routed mass, 
Step the far-famed Immortals, 

And charge to win the pass ; 
Avails not aught their prowess. 

Their valour proved and high ; 
On the long lances' serried fence 

They hurl themselves to die. 



High on a jcdded dais, 

Amidst a glittering crowd. 
To scan the fight sate Xerxes, 

All jubilant and proud; 
Full soon his pride was lowered, 

As hopes died out in fears ; 
Thrice from his seat he leapt aghast, 
As reeling backward, thick and fast. 
Like trees before tornado's blast. 

Went down his bravest spears. 



Two days they fought, but ever 

The Persians fought in vain ; 
That bristling front they might not pierce, 

The pass they might not gain ; 
Till, heaven's curse on the traitor ! 

Blinded by lust of gold, 
The secret of the mountain-path 

False Ephialtes told. 



24 



Calm broke the morn, and stilly, 

As up the mountain-side 
Hydarnes' doughty warriors pressed, 

Led by their traitor guide ; 
Far, in the morning silence, 

The Phokians heard the sound 
Of trampling feet that crushed the leaves, 

Thick strewing all the ground. 



Ah! Phokis — where thy valour? 

Where now thy vaunted might? 
Why quit thy sons their chosen post? 

Why flee they to the height? 
Reck not of you these foemen — 

They seek a nobler prey; 
Mark how they hold their onward course 

Along the unguarded way; 
That single arrow-flight has changed 

The fortune of the day. 



Warned of the coming danger, 

The little host below 
Hold counsel, or to shun the fray. 
Or sell as dearly as they may 

Their lives unto the foe ; 
Needs not to tell how sternly 

The Spartan scorns to fly, 
Who, if he may not win the fight, 
Counts it a little thing, and light, 

In duty's cause to die. 



First, in his right of office, 
Uprose Leonidas; 

[25] 



"Spartans," he cried, " 'tis ours to save 
Our country, ours to find a grave 

Within this narrow pass; 
And since or king of Sparta, 

(So destiny has willed) 
Or Sparta's self must fall, in me 
This day the Delphic god shall see 

His oracle fulfilled. 



"Enough are we for glory; 

- Enough are we to show 

What hearts in Hellene bosoms beat; 

What welcome stern and fierce shall greet 

The onward marching foe. 
Sparta's be all the battle ; 

Sparta's shall be the fame; 
Let our allies while yet they may 
Withdraw, in less unequal fray 
To drive the Persian in dismay 

Back by the way he came" 



He spake ; the allies assenting 

March from the pass full speed, 
But the brave Thespians will not quit 

The hero in his need ; 
The Theban troop reluctant 

Must stay their faith to prove ; 
Abides Megistias, blameless seer, 
Whose patriot soul nor fate nor fear 

Can from its purpose move. 



The foe is up ; no longer 
His fierce attack they wait, 

But sallying out beyond the wall 
Charge reckless of their fate. 

f261 



In forefront of the battle 

Towers the Spartan king; 
Back from the fury of his spear 
The Persians shrink in craven fear, 
And distant javelins fling. 



Long raged the mortal conflict, 

For Hellas fought amain; 
Thrust through, down-trampled, mass on mass, 
Lay, strown upon the blood-stained grass, 
Or stifled in the deep morass, 

By thousands Persia's slain ; 
Till, their long spears all broken, 

Each Hellene drew his brand, 
For now the foe came closing up 

Round their beleaguered band, 
And lashed with scourges to the fight, 

'Countered them hand to hand. 

XXXV. 

Then brooked the Spartan sword-thrust 

Full many a Persian wight, 
And many a bold barbarian fell 

Before the Thespian might; 
But aye the storm of battle 

Thicker and thicker grow ; 
And aye the Persians' crescent host 

Closer and closer drew. 



Down is the Spartan chieftain — 

Shivered that heart of steel ; 
Fierce o'er his corse his comrades fight : 
Four times before their desperate might 

Staggering the Persians reel ; 
Fall prince and princely noble ; 



[27] 



Fall Xerxes' brethren twain ; 
Sparta's and Persia's royal blood 
Flows mingling in one streaming flood 

Over the reeking plain. 

XXXVII. 

O'ermatched, outnumbered, ever 

The Hellenes held, their ground, 
Tho' aye their ranks were thinning fast: 
Till from the rear rang stern at last 

A deep and ominous sound — 
The sound of clanging armour : 

The measured tramp of feet: 
'Twas fierce Hydarnes hurrying up 

The slaughter to complete. 

xxxvin. 
Then slow the little remnant, 

Face to the foe, fell back; 
Crossing the wall they sate them down 

To bide the last attack ; 
There, on a grassy hillock, 

Hemmed in on every side, 
Shot down by javelin, bolt, and dart, 

They fought, and fighting died. 

xxxix. 

Now, on that little hillock — 

Emblem of hearts as brave — 
A marble lion stands to mark 

The Spartan chieftain's grave ; 
Hard by twain lettered pillars 

The desperate fight record, 
And bid the passing stranger tell 
Sparta how bravely and how well 

Her sons obeyed her word. 



28 



Not vain thy self-devotion, 

High-souled Leonidas ; 
Nor vainly with thee fought and fell 

Those heroes of the pass ; 
Ye thrilled the heart of Hellas : 

Ye nerved each Hellene hand 
To strike the blow, that swept the foe 

In ruin from the land. 



Aye; for your bright ensample 

Lit Freedom's sacred flame, 
That broader blazed in after-time, 
And spread thro' every realm and clime 

Your memory and your fame; 
A little time of waiting — 

Then, with fair victory blest. 
Shall Salamis your death requite, 
And proud Plataea's crowning fight 

Give a free Hellas rest. 

XLII. 

Upon that scene of slaughter 

Turns Hellas reverent gaze. 
And, bending proudly o'er your tomb, 

Gives you not tears but praise ; 
Counting that tomb an altar, 

Whereon she laid her best: 
Your name — a watchword and a power 

To fire each patriot breast: 
Your deed — to all her warrior sons 

A mute but proud bequest. 

XI .III. 

Sleep on ; succeeding ages 

Shall keep your memory green; 



29 



Devouring time shall have no strength 

To dim your glory's sheen ; 
Lives, and shall live for ever, 

Among the brave and free, 
The story of the gallant fight. 

Fought at Thermopylae. 



[30] 



MANTINEA 



Flebili sponsae iuvenemve raptum 
Plorat, et vires animumque moresque 
Aureos educit in astra, nigroque 
Invidet Ocro. 

Horace. 



rnnr w < nnr>i xmrx — aooe x J OOO I rtq 


MANTINEA 8 



CD 



i. 

[ourn, land of Muse and hero : 
Bow, Thebes, in grief thy head : 
Let dirge and funeral anthem 
Honour the mighty dead; 
Let a nation's tears bear witness, 

A nation's heart attest. 
That of her warriors, good and brave, 
Now lies within his narrow grave 
The bravest and the best 



And yet what death more noble 

Could warrior hope to gain 
Than his, whose life-blood dyes the earth 

Of Mantinea's plain? 
He smote the rebel-leaguers; 

He laid the Spartan low. 
And victory flung a fadeless wreath 

Around his dving brow. 



III. 
Statesman and soldier peerless, 

True patriot aye and leal, 
Without one thought of self, he sought 

Only his country's weal; 
In the long line of heroes 

Enshrined in history's roll 
Earth boasts no nobler life than his, 

No brighter, purer soul. 



What unto him thou owest 

Let Leuktra's victory tell, 
And twice two hundred Spartan shields 

That grace our citadel ; 
Witness each state and city 

Freed from proud Sparta's yoke, 
And pay your homage to his name 

Her despot-power who broke. 



The Spartan aye has borne him 

Right bravely in the field ; 
Not once nor twice has Athens 

Made Persia's armies yield ; 
But, as the stars of heaven 

Faint at the dawning light, 
So at the sun of Thebes' high fame 
Paled Sparta's pride, and Athens' name, 

Dimmed by its lustre bright. 

VI. 

Yet fate had used him hardly 

Before his crowning fight, 
Or Sparta's self, as nest forlorn, 

Had yielded to his might; 
Had not some adverse daemon 

Stolen their wonted force, 



34 



False Mantinea's neck had bent 
Before our gallant horse. 



'Tis ever thus; the Immortals, 

Who careless dwell on high, 
Look down at times on deeds of men 

In wrath and jealousy; 
Of human pain and anguish 

Little they reck or think ; 
But, when a mortal man's success 
Surmounts, his bark all pitiless 

In sight of port they sink. 



Yet tho' their idle malice 

Might will to work him harm. 
It might not daunt his soul, nor break 

The vigour of his arm ; 
Unflinching and unbending, 

By high resolve upborne, 
He rose superior to his fate, 

And laughed mischance to scorn. 

IX. 

'Twas Mantinea's treason, 

And Sparta's selfish greed, 
That brought us from our northern home 

To meet our country's need ; 
Came with us from Euboea 

Full many a staunch ally. 
And, ranging with our Theban horse, 

Thessalia's cavalry. 



Crossing the isthmus, southward 
Our slow battalions filed, 

[35 1 



Till within Tegea's ancient walls 
Halting our arms we piled; 

There flocked to join our standard 
The Argives, man by man : 

The troops of Tegea, leal and true, 

Chief of Arkadia's faithful few : 
Messenia's warlike clan. 



Meantime the Mantineans, 

With panic-terror crushed, 
Sent in hot haste for Sparta's aid ; 
Forth, with battalions all arrayed, 

Agesilaos rushed; 
Reft of her living rampart, 

Sparta defenceless lay; 
As falcon to its quarry stoops, 
Dashed on the town our fiery troops ; 
But some ill chance had sent the alarm, 
And some ill spell unnerved our arm, 

And robbed us of our prey. 



Back to our main encampment, 

Without an hour's delay. 
We marched, our force to gather 

For a decisive fray ; 
Forward to Mantinea, 

On fruitless errand bent, 
To meet repulse from Athens' horse, 

Our cavalry was sent. 



Unmoved by disappointments. 

Where, with his pine-woods crowned, 
Looms Maenalus above the plain, 

Northward our march we wound : 



36 



Till in the pass before us 

We saw the foe at bay, 
With threatening front and bristling line 

Drawn up to bar the way. 

XIV. 

We grounded arms, and halted, 

As tho' declining fight, 
And watched their footmen quit the ranks, 

Their horsemen down alight ; 
Then at the word deploying 

Our columns into line, 
We faced the foe, and stood to arms. 

Waiting the battle-sign. 



The left, the post of honour, 

We, of the Theban name, 
Held, massed in columns fifty deep, 
Both horse and foot — unstained to keep 

That day our country's fame; 
Next our allies lay posted 

Less deep, with wider front, 
Along the centre and the right, 
Our onset to support, nor fight 

Till we had borne the brunt. 



XVI 

We charged — the foe confounded 
Marked our advancing host ; 

Sprang to his steed each horseman, 
Each footman to his post ; 

Nearer the while and nearer 
Down on their ranks we bore ; 

Loud, as our battle swept aslant 

Upon them, pealed our paean-chant; 

Sullen their answering challenge rang, 



37] 



While tramp of feet, and armour's clang, 
Swelled the tumultuous roar. 



Then crashed our Theban phalanx 

Full on the Spartan right, 
Where all their Dorian chivalry 

Were marshalled for the fight; 
Before that furious' onslaught 

The Dorian courage quailed, 
For 'gainst that mighty column-rush 

Nor sword nor spear availed. 



Routed they fled ; they might not 

Withstand the fierce attack ; 
The day was ours ; for at the sight 
Broke Elis and Achaia's might, 
False Mantinea took to flight, 

And Athens' horse fell back; 
But horror chill and sudden 

Thrilled all our hearts with fear, 
For where, like pine-tree straight and tall, 
He fought, the foremost of us all, 
We saw our gallant leader fall, 

Pierced by a foeman's spear. 

XIX. 

Too well the Spartans knew him 

Our champion and our stay : 
Knew him their fiercest, sternest foe 

In many a hard-fought fray; 
And many a dart had pierced him 

Sped with revengeful aim, 
And many a lance had sought his breast 
As on the flying rout he pressed, 

Before his death-wound came. 

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Nought recked we of pursuing, 

Tho' now in full retreat 
The foe were scattering far and wide, 
Careless the while what might betide, 
So we might guard the latest breath 
Of him, who stricken to his death, 

Lay senseless at our feet ; 
Gently we raised him, gently 

We bore him from the field, 
Still in his breast the spear-head, 

Still at his side his shield. 

XXI. 

Out of the din of battle 

He raised his filming eyes : 
"My shield?"—" Tis safe ;" "The victory ?"— "Out 
He heard ; it nerved his failing powers ; 

He faintly strove to rise ; 
" 'Tis well," he said ; "unconquered 

A soldier's death I die ;" 
And with a proud smile lift his face 

Up to the golden sky. 



Then — "Send me Daiphantos : 

Send Iolaidas ;" 
We only turned a mournful glance 
To where, 'mid shivered sword and lance, 

Each lay, a gory mass. 
He looked, and saw his answer 

In each averted face ; 
"Both dead," he sighed ; "then must ye make 
Peace with the foe for Hellas' sake;" 

Then mused a little space. 

xxin 
Silent we stood around him, 
For we knew all help was vain. 



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And the death-drops gathered on his brow, 

White with his deadly pain ; 
Till, mastered by his anguish, 

"Pull out the spear" — he said ; 
We dragged it out; the crimson blood 
Gushed forth, and in that noble flood 

His hero-spirit fled 



Light lie, Epaminondas, 

The earth upon thy breast ; 

In war and strife has been thy life, 

. Peaceful shall be thy rest ; 

In the far distant islands, 

Where the blest spirits roam, 

The shades of all the glorious dead 
Shall bid thee welcome home. 



The End 



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